Shang-Ping Xie

Shang-Ping Xie is a prominent climatologist and oceanographer known for his research on ocean-atmosphere interactions and El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Born in 1963 in Quzhou, China, he pursued education in oceanography despite having no prior exposure to the ocean. His academic journey included a Bachelor of Science from Ocean University of China (1984), Master of Science and Doctor of Science degrees from Tohoku University (1988 and 1991, respectively), and visiting positions at Princeton University (1991–1993) and the University of Washington (1993–1994).

Xie began his career as a professor of meteorology at the University of Hawaiʻi before joining Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2012 as the inaugural Roger Revelle Chair, established with an endowment from the Revelle family. He has held visiting lectureships, including a 2016 lecture at the University of Washington on El Niño.

His research focuses on global warming, climate variability, and modeling human impacts on climate. Notable studies include a 2013 Nature paper linking Pacific Ocean cooling to global warming slowdowns and a 2015 Nature Geoscience paper introducing a new method for tracking anthropogenic global warming. He has collaborated with institutions like Duke University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, contributing to understanding monsoon changes in Asia and tropical cyclone intensity trends.

Xie has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in geosciences and received the prestigious Sverdrup Gold Medal from the American Meteorological Society in 2017. His work continues to advance understanding of climate dynamics and human-induced climate change.